The purpose of this study is to describe the assessment environment in constructivist-oriented science, technology, and society (STS) classrooms. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews and subjected to a constant comparative analysis associated with a grounded theory model. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (1) a description of the…

Many educational institutions have moved toward situated learning and problem-based learning (PBL) in which students, to learn, must rely on investigations of problems within an authentic professional context. A study examined and described how students read and learn in such a context. Results of a 1995 qualitative study showed that four out of…

The Model of College Outcomes for Adults explains why adults might do as well as traditional students, despite limited participation and involvement in traditional residential learning experiences. The model's six components are prior experience and personal biographies; psychosocial and value orientation; adult cognition; life-world environment;…

A method to facilitate collaborative learning in complex learning environments was developed and evaluated. Sixteen college students of educational science were given the CoStructure-Tool, a task-specific computer-based tool developed on the basis of concept mapping techniques to support the processes of knowledge construction in collaborative…

This guide describes the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology's (SIAST's) (Canada) Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) program. PLAR is an evaluation through a valid and reliable process of the knowledge and skills a student has learned through previous education, training, or experience, to determine the…

Researchers studied the effect of interpolating extraneous information on students' ability to process cognitive information concerning their prior performances on the McCloy block test. The extraneous information was given in the interval between their last test and their next attempt to perform it. Results are discussed. (Author/PP)

Describes an instructional procedure based on the findings of schema research and illustrating the truth that the more students know about a subject, the better they can comprehend what they read about that subject. (FL)

Eight alternative frameworks of students' conceptions of gravity are discussed. Data supporting these frameworks were obtained during 40-minute interviews dealing with force. (SK)

A linear regression model was used to test the relationship between the knowledge of Kohlberg's theory and moral stage development. A multiple regression analysis was used to test the multivariate relationship between one dependent and five independent variables. Neither analysis demonstrated a statistically significant relationship. (Author/PN)

The consortial approach to assessment of prior learning can reduce costs and increase the availability of service. CLEO (Compact for Lifelong Educational Opportunities), a consortium of 38 colleges and universities in the Delaware Valley region, is described. (Author/MLW)

Provides several types of prereading activities that combine into one strategy stressing vocabulary, oral language development, and prediction. (FL)

Three prior learning program directors relate their experiences with program implementation. Three different types of institutions are represented: Sinclair Community College, State University of New York at Cortland, and American University, Washington, DC. Vital statistics and program descriptions are presented. (MLW)

Regional counseling, assessment centers, and the telecommunications revolution, it is suggested, will have a significant impact on the shape of prior learning assessment programs in the 1980s. Educators must resist the temptation to tie in all assessment programs to courses and credentials. (MLW)

Schools of Pharmacy, it is suggested, should be responsive to practitioner needs by providing a mechanism through which pharmacists may earn a PharmD degree with minimal disruption. The degree should be part-time, off-campus, and provide a means to grant partial credit for prior knowledge and experience. (Author/MLW)

The new Continuing Education Unit as a quantitative measure of noncredit coursework is explained, and it is indicated how the college should consider CEU transcripts in assessing prior learning for credit. (Author)